Targeted Investment Lifted Young People’s Hope in England’s Most Disadvantaged Areas
While young people’s optimism has fallen across the country, those in England’s most disadvantaged communities are bucking the trend. New research – Green shoots of hope? Increased optimism about future study and work in England’s Opportunity Areas – shows that targeted government investment has given them a real boost in confidence about their education and career prospects. This marks the first of many publications from our From the Centre to the Periphery project.
The Opportunity Areas Programme
Between 2017 and 2022, the Opportunity Areas programme invested £108 million in 12 communities with low educational attainment and high youth unemployment, including Blackpool, Bradford, Derby, and Norwich. Researchers from the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Durham found that young people in these areas felt more confident about securing university places, completing their studies, and finding suitable jobs compared to similar areas without the investment. The effect was particularly strong in coastal and post-industrial communities.
The Challenge Ahead
The programme ended in 2022, and its follow-on initiative (PEIA) was discontinued in March 2025. Lead researcher Dr Jo Davies warns: “The government now has a moral obligation to these young people whose hopes have been raised to ensure that genuine education and employment opportunities are available in their local communities.”
Professor Michael Donnelly adds that “optimism alone won’t solve deep-rooted inequalities – we also need to see sustained investment in good, well-paid jobs in these communities.”
What This Means
The research demonstrates that place-based interventions can make a real difference to young people’s aspirations. However, the UK remains one of the most regionally imbalanced developed economies, with persistent disparities between London and the rest of the country.
The researchers argue that future initiatives should reach all disadvantaged young people, not just those in selected areas, and emphasise that raising hopes without providing genuine opportunities risks deepening disillusionment. Find out more on IPR’s website.
- Davies, J., Dickson, M., Donnelly, M., Brown, C., Siddiqui, N., Pearce, N., Harris, R., Young, E., & Cunningham, C. (2025). Green shoots of hope? Increased optimism about future study and work in England’s Opportunity Areas (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17277274